Becoming a Dungeon Core

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"Let's see…" Alex muttered as he scrolled through Antara's description. "According to this, she and her future colony will thrive best in hot temperatures, at least above 130 F for the worker ants. But I need to read more."

Scrolling through both Antara's details and the overall species description, Alex read carefully, making sure he fully understood what was needed for Antara and her future colony to flourish.

Another perk he had was a full description of his dungeon mobs and their stats. Everything from their diet, growth, environmental needs, life cycle, and characteristics were all shown to him. He could even see abilities and passives they had, but other than the Chenoo and Orlu having some abilities, all of his other mobs practically had nothing. 

But Antara was different. She had several abilities and passives, mainly focused on supporting herself and the colony. Alex only peaked at them but hasn't fully read through them yet. He wants to change the 3rd floor first before he gets distracted by something else. 

—

Basic Species Overview - Queen Terragnath Ant

[Diet] - The Queen Terragnath Ant primarily consumes massive quantities of stone, ores, and volcanic minerals delivered by her worker ants. Magical ores are particularly valuable, as she absorbs their latent energy to enhance her strength and improve the potency of future eggs. While minerals provide sustenance and reinforce her tough exoskeleton, she also requires flesh to fuel egg production. The higher the quality of the flesh, the stronger and more resilient her offspring become, making powerful creatures or magical prey especially desirable.

[Byproducts] - In her early stages, the Queen Terragnath Ant consumes small amounts of lava alongside vast amounts of stone and durable minerals to produce a molten tar-like substance. When expelled from the mouth, it rapidly hardens into a reinforced resin, mainly used to strengthen her nest's walls against both natural collapse and external threats.

Throughout her entire lifespan, the Queen continuously sheds fragments of her exoskeleton as her body reinforces itself with stronger, more durable armor. The frequency and quality of these shed plates depend on her diet, particularly the diet of ores and magical minerals determined frequency and quality. These discarded fragments are highly valued for their heat resistance and durability, often repurposed by the hive.

Once a Queen begins egg production, the Queen secretes a white, sulfuric ash-like pheromone, which is both heat-resistant and highly potent. This substance influences the behavior of the brood and strengthens her hive-wide control 

If the Queen is regularly fed mana-rich materials, her body will prevent mana overload by expelling excess energy in the form of black, crystal-like excrement. This material is dense with residual magical energy, making it a rare and highly sought-after substance for enchantment and alchemical use. The Queen may even eat it to regain lost energy.

[Environment] - The Queen Terragnath Ant thrives best in extreme heat, with optimal temperatures reaching up to 400°F (204°C). However, the average temperature within a Terragnath ant nest typically ranges between 150°F and 300°F (65°C – 149°C), depending on depth and purpose. Deeper chambers retain more intense heat, while higher levels are somewhat cooler

The Queen always resides at the lowest point of the nest, where the temperature is at its peak. The Queen's chambers are usually positioned near active lava flows, which provide sustenance and regulate the hive's temperature. Additionally, her chambers are always located close to the brood chambers, as eggs require extreme heat for proper incubation and development.

If a Queen is exposed to temperatures below 100°F (38°C), she will gradually weaken, becoming sluggish and vulnerable, though she can survive for a while. However, a drastic temperature drop can force her into hibernation, rendering her immobile until she either starves, is killed, or the heat returns to revive her. However, depending on a Queen's strength and size, some can handle colder temperatures compared to others.

[Physical Description] - A Queen Terragnath Ant's size varies greatly, influenced by age, diet, and environment, with Queens categorized into three primary stages: Young, Mature, and Ancient Queens. A Young Queen typically measures 15 feet (4.5 m) long, stands 8 feet (2.4 m) tall, and weighs up to 4 tons, reaching this stage at around 50 years old. A Mature Queen, grows to 30 feet (9 m) in length, 15 feet (4.5 m) in height, and weighs around 20 tons, with an average age of 400 years. The rarest and most powerful stage, an Ancient Queen, can reach 50+ feet (15+ m) in length, 20+ feet (6+ m) in height, and weigh well over 50 tons, depending on her mineral intake. With an average age of 7,000+ years. 

The physical appearance of a Queen Terragnath Ant varies slightly between individuals, but all share a signature obsidian-colored exoskeleton, built to support their immense weight. This exoskeleton is incredibly thick, with the joints being the least armored to allow movement. Bright red lines trace across their bodies, pulsing in sync with the Queen's heartbeat, giving them an almost molten appearance. Their monstrous, jagged mandibles are specially designed to crush stone and ores with ease, capable of pulverizing anything unfortunate enough to be caught in their path. While difficult to spot at first glance, a Queen possesses eight dark red eyes, arranged in four pairs, one on top of the head, one on each side, and one facing forward, unlike the compound eyes of lesser ants. Her legs are thick and powerful to support their immense weight, ending in razor-sharp, clawed talons that allow her to grip through hard materials with ease.

—

"Damn, this helps a lot… hmm, but I wonder what the rest of the overview says."

Although there was plenty of useful information to read, a lot of it was blurred and grayed out. Still, at least he had enough to start working on the third floor.

Zooming out to view the entire area, Alex ordered Antara to move Kali to the 1st floor and stay away for a couple of hours. Since Kali was already riding on Antara, Alex simply placed a portal in front of his ant queen, allowing her to pass. Then, he immediately got to work.

The first step was clearing the 3rd floor of any debris. While Antara had done a great job of keeping her nest clean, there were still massive amounts of stone she hadn't tossed onto the other floors, along with a pile of corpses she had yet to eat.

Although he wished he could store all the stone and corpses in his [Inventory], he needed to be physically inside his dungeon and near the items to do so. He considered bringing Antara back so she could collect her food but decided against it. A quick check with Ethan showed that he was already dragging several dead wolves to the dungeon, so Antara should have something to munch on.

With a snap of his 'finger' and 59 SP, the entire third floor was cleared. Now, it was time for the next step. Changing the environment.

Opening the [Shop] search function, Alex typed in "lava" and was surprised by the sheer amount of options. He never expected there to be so many types of lava available.

—

[Dungeon Creation] → [Shop]

[Amount - 50 gallons]

…

Blood Lava - 12424 SP 

Spectral Lava - 7241 SP 

Flame-Laden Lava - 2310 SP

Rhyolitic Lava - 500 SP 

Komatiite Lava - 4420 SP 

Ferropicrite Laca - 530 SP

Basanite Lava - 410 SP 

Andesitic Lava - 378 SP 

Trachyte Lava - 349 SP 

Blocky Lava - 312 SP 

Basaltic Lava - 232 SP 

Pāhoehoe Lava - 202 SP 

ʻAʻā Lava - 152 SP 

Pillow Lava - 93 SP 

…

—

"Oh shit."

Clicking on any item in the [Shop] brought up a description along with a 3D model of how it looked. There was an overwhelming amount of lava to sort through, countless types of lava, each originating from different worlds his summons came from. He wasn't even sure where to start. Some were very cheap with some being very expensive, there was even a little filter near the search bar that allowed him to buy a specific amount of gallons at a time.

"Hey, Alexa, which one do you recommend for Antara? Oh, and Ignore the magical lava, that's way too expensive for me right now."

There were so many duplicates, with some only having small differences between them. One would have a slightly higher iron content, while another was simply more viscous.

(I would highly recommend ferropicrite lava for a young Terragnath Queen.) Alexa said. (It has a high concentration of iron, nickel, and chromium, which would greatly benefit Antara's growth. However, I suggest creating pathways for the lava to flow through and setting up a pond. Once you purchase the lava, I'll guide you on how to establish a permanent lava pool.)

She selected a specific type of ferropicrite lava that was rich in iron and chromium but contained only trace amounts of nickel. Of course there were other elements that were in abundance, but both Alex and Alexa were focused on metals that'll help Antara.

Seeing Alexa's recommendation in front of him, Alex spent a whopping 11,520 SP on 1,000 gallons of Ferropicrite lava.

Now, you might be wondering why he just spent half of his SP on that much lava, leaving himself with only 12,260 SP. Well, he had a plan, a way to gather a lot more SP. And that plan? Turning his daughter into his own little loot goblin.

Anything Emi touched with her hands, Alex could store in his [Inventory] and sell to the [Shop] for SP. He also hadn't even sold the loot from his dungeon raids. Not that it was worth much, mostly bones, rusty weapons, and torches he had swiped from the dungeon walls. He had so much SP earlier because he sold all the jewelry and other stuff that looked valuable from the fat noble that tried to capture him.

However, the goblin corpses were actually worth something, ranging between 13 and 30 SP each. With plenty of them ready to be sold, Alex emptied his [Inventory], keeping only a few valuable items, like the Widow's Veil Extract and everything he had received from the system.

In total, he earned an extra 1,156 SP from the 52 goblin corpses, 499 SP from the torches he had stolen, and another 5,091 SP from miscellaneous loot. This brought his total SP to 19006.

Now, with some extra SP to spend, Alex zoomed in on the nest and created a sphere capable of holding 10,000 gallons of lava. His plan was simple: position the lava reservoir above the nest, carve out small pathways, and let gravity do the work.

But what Alexa told him next made him especially happy. He wouldn't have to spend thousands of SP to replenish the lava he had just bought.

—

Thanks for reading 

Comment on any mistakes or changes I should make.

Also, what do you think of the basic overview of a Terragnath Queen, should I make any changes?

I'll maybe post Alex [Inventory] so yall can see what he has. Not too sure, but most likely, I'll try to post it if I don't forget. It'll be an auxiliary chapter